NCB's Q2 profits soar 16pc to $373 million

Riyadh, July 12, 2011

State-owned National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia's biggest bank by assets, posted a 16 percent rise in its second-quarter net profit, the lender said on Tuesday.

The bank made a net profit of 1.4 billion Saudi riyals ($373 million) in the three months ending June, compared to 1.2 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier.

The bank attributed the rise in net profit to increased revenue from banking fees and special commissions. NCB said its loans portfolio increased by 11.3 percent to 140 billion riyals.

The bank's chief executive Abdul-Kareem Abu Al-Nasr said in March he expects to see higher profits in Saudi banks this year as lending picks up after the government announced handouts of more than $100 billion.

The spending plan, which includes building 500,000 new homes, has helped lift the sentiment in the kingdom's banks and boost lending.

Four other Saudi banks announced quarterly profits that either met or beat analysts estimates on Monday, in a sign that the kingdom's lenders have begun to rebound from bad loan provisioning which ate into their profits in 2009 and 2010. - Reuters